Franklin lays off 222 more workers, closes rec centers
December 2, 2008 at 1:23 pm by Scott Henry in NewsAbout two weeks ago, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin announced city-wide employee furloughs to cut spending.
Today, she dropped the other shoe.
This morning, Franklin laid out her plan to slash another $14 million from the budget; the casualties include 23 recreation centers, the annual Atlanta Jazz Fest and a total of 222 more city jobs.
We’re not talking here about eliminating unfilled positions — nearly all of those were wiped out in previous rounds of cuts. These are actual city employees.
As the Mayor put it: “We are cutting into what we believe is the bone.”
Here’s where the bulk of the layoffs are falling:
- 58 employees from Public Works, mostly in trash and yard waste collection
- 25 employees from Planning, predominantly in building permits
- 107 recreation center employees
Franklin has also cut her own office by another four people and announced she was taking her third pay cut since becoming mayor, although she didn’t give details.
Weekly furloughs for most city employees will begin Dec. 11; under the new schedule, most folks will work four 9-hour days and have Fridays off. This means City Hall, City Hall East and the Municipal Court will be closed to the public on Fridays, so don’t expect anyone to answer the phone when you call on a Friday about getting a recycling bin.
Recycling, by the way, will go from weekly pick-up to every other week.
None of the changes Franklin announced today need to be approved by the City Council, although members are likely to have questions about the details as they apply to individual council districts.
Franklin warned, however, that these latest cuts are based on what she called “optimistic projections” about the economic downturn and could need to be revisited if things get worse.
“I am determined the next mayor, whoever he or she may be, will not find the city in the red,” she said.
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Impeach the crook now before she does any more damage! Clark Howard for mayor!!!
We need to privatize the airport, not punish communities. Shirley Franklin is absolutely the most inept and evil mayor this city has ever known (and that’s saying a LOT!)